System for supplying electricity.



l. 1. lREUTER. I SYSTEM FOR SUPPLYING ELECTRICITY.

API tICATlON FILED 0CT.`.l9,'l9-l2.

1369,866. Patented Feb.v1,19`16.

Tooo 2000 R-RM.

vUNITED ySTATES PATENT OFFICE. lIR-VINf-'rY J'. REUTER, OFl ANDERSON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR IO REMY ELECTRIC GO., 0F

ANDERSON,' INDIANA.

SYSTEM ron SUPPLYINGELECTRIGITY.

specicatibn f Letters Patent.

Application led October 19,` 1912. Serial No. 726,710.

To all whom it may concern:l s

Be it known that' I, vIRVING J. REUTER,

Aa citizen of the United States, residing at Anderson, in vthe county of Madison and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful System for Supplying Electricity, of

which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to produce a system for supplyingelectricity which is Vadapted for use in the ignition and lighting of automobiles propelled by internal combustion engines, although it may be used in other situations.

The invent-ion relates particularly -to the generator. y

In the electricsupply systems employed for automobiles,`use is frequently made of a storage battery connected in parallel with a K generator and electric lamps.

Owing to the confined situation in which the generator may be located, it is desirable '1i-that it be asksmall as possible.

In order to be adapted to various speeds of driving, it should be capable of delivering a large output at low speed, and this output should not vary greatly as the 4speed is increased. Simplicity is also essential to reduce the liability of. derangement.

It may also be desirable that the output of the generator be greater when the lights,y

etc., aie in operation.A There the electric supply systemy delivers current toignition apparatus, it is desirable that the voltage and ignition system embodying my invention; Fig. v211s a diagrammatic view of the generator ,showing particularly the magnetic paths or circuits; Aand Fig. 3 shows the current and voltage curves obtained experimentally from a machine embodying my invention. Y

In Fig. 1, 1Q represents the field magnet of the generator which for convenience of illustration and descr1pt1on,1s shown as a two-pole machine, and '11 represents conventionally the commutator against which bear three brushes 12, 13 and 14. The -brushes 12 and 13 hereinafter termed the load brushes correspondV to those ordinarily employed in direct current'generators and are 'preferably located atv or near the neutral points orplane,--that is, where thevoltage generated between adjacent commutatorbars is zero. The brush 14 is an `additional or auxiliary brush which may be termed the ield brush, and is located prefer-ably away from the neutral point, and is displaced from brush 12 in the direction opposed to the direction of rotation. The brushes are normally fixed. That is to say, their positions are not changed during the' operation of the system,- but they are preferably-adjustable so that thev may be located where the best condi` tions of operation are obtained.

The field magnet 10 is provided with a eld winding 15 for excitation and regulation, one terminal of Vthe winding being connected to brush 13 andthe other to brush 14.

The generator is adapted to supply current'to a storage battery 16, and to lamps 17 which may be cut into or outL of service at will by switches 18. One terminal of battery 16 is connected by conductor 2() to load brush 12, while the other battery terminal is connected by conductor 21 to the opposite load brush 13; Included in the generatorbattery circuitand in this casein conductor 21 is a switch 22 which is opened when the generator is idle or when it is driven at such a low speed that its voltage is less than the voltage of. the battery, said switch being preferably one of the well known automatic types. t v l One terminal ot each of the lamps is connected through one of vthe switches 18 to Patentedreb. 1,1916. y

yso

conductor 21, and the other terminals of the lamps are connected byconductor 23 to load brush 12. Between the lamps and load brush 12 is an auxiliary lield winding 24, which is in series with the lamps, and when the lamps, are in use, is adapted to produce a ield to augment the ield"pro fduced by winding 15, as will be hereinafter enplained.v f. y

The ignition system which is adapted to be supplied with current from the generator,

or from the .generator and abatt'ery, in-

breaker is adapted to be operated by a cam 27h which may be rotated by the generator.

through suitable driving mechanism such as a shaft 27. It will be observed that the primary of the coil 26' is connected to generator brushes 12 and Min the following manner.

One terminal of the primary 26 is connected by conductor 28 to brush 12, while the other terminal of the primary 1s connected by conductor 29 to one contact of the circuit44 breaker whose other contact or terminal is f connected byv conductor 30 to generator to load brushes.

brush 14. It will be seen that there is included in the primary circuit, and in this casein conductor 28 between brush 12 and primary 26, a battery 31 which while not in all cases essential, is referably employed.

By connecting the eld winding 15 between load brush 13 and auxiliary brush 14, and by connecting the terminals of the primary coil of theignition circuit between load brush 12 and auxiliary brush 1-1, the

` voltage at the terminals of the load circuit remains practically constant by reason of the characteristic of4 the storage battery, andthe current in the load circuit does not vary materially as the speed increases, but at the same time, the voltage impressed by the generator on the primary of the ignition circuit rises rapidly as the speed increases. A

The phenomena. above stated will be apparent from a consideration of the action of the iuX due to the armature reaction or the so-called cross fiux, and the characteristics of the storage battery which is connected In Fig. 2, M-M indicates the axis ot' the main flux created by the current in field coil 15,01l in field coils 15 `and 24, and O O indicates the axis of the cross fiux, whose paths through the armature and field poles are roughly indicated by the dotted lines. In this same ligure, the positions of the brushes and direction of rotation are also shown. vInasmuch as this cross flux opposes the main flux in the regions Y and Y and assists the main iux in the regions Z and Zp, and as the field distortion due to the-cross flux increases with the speed, it follows that thevoltage between brushes 13 and 11 which depends on the linx in the region X and X decreases with the speed, and that the voltage between brushes 12 and 14 increaseswith the speed. The Voltage across the load brushes 12 and 13 is unaiected by the crossfhix and is substantially constant due chiefly to the storage battery in the load circuit andito the fact thatythe field created by the current in coil^15 is weakened when the speed in creases yand is strengthened when the speed decreases. In consequence, the coil 15 whose terminals areconnected to the. brushes 13 and 1l, (across which the voltage decreases with the speed) functions as an exciting and, regulating coil, so as to causeY themachine to have a current'output which does not vary i materially with change of speed.

In. Fig. 3, I have shown actual current and voltage curves of a machine embodying my invention. In this figure, wherein the horizontal axis represents revolutions per minute, and the vertical axis either volts or amperes,curve Ishows the relation between the speed in revoultions per minute and the i' current delivered tothe battery; curve II represents the voltage between theload brushes 12 and 13; and curve III represents the voltage between-brushes 13 and 1l be tween 'which the exciting and regulating coil 15 is connected. CurveI shows that the current reaches its maximum value at a comparatively low speed, and varies only slightly as the speed is increased, the curve -having a slight4 drooping characteristic.'

Curve II shows that the voltage between the load brushes remains practically constant, and curve III shows that the voltage between brushes 13 and 14 decreases rapidly from its maximum value as-the speed is increased.

`The voltage across brushes 12 and 14, at any particular speed, is the difference be tween that across 12 and 13, and that across brushes 13 and 14. But that across 12 and 13 is substantially constant, and that across 13 and 14 decreases with increasing speed, as was shown in the explanation o't the regulation, and as is apparent from the voltage curves here shown. Therefore, the voltage across brushes12 and l-l which rapidly increases with increasing speed, is enabled to effectively augment the battery 31, so that as the increasing speed oi the winding 26a .is increased, resulting in good sparks at the spark plug 2T, at both high and low speeds.

Unless it is desired to operate the ignition system at low speeds, thebattery 31 is not absolutely necessary, as the ignition circuit may he operated by means of the voltage between brushes 12 and li alone. In other words, the generator serves as a substantially constant current and voltage inachine, as far as the main load circuit is concerned, and otherwise functions in a desirable manner or battery charglng and lighting purposes, and it serves as a source of current whose voltage increases with the speed. This increase in voltage compensates for the reduction in the time availablefor messes magnetizing the core of the induction coil, permitting good sparks to be obtained a high speed as well as a t low speeds.

The regulation occurring when the lamps 17 are turned off is like the regulation previously described, but 'when the lamps are on, the current passing between the generator and the lamps is obliged to pass through the winding thereby increasing the mainviiux and the output of the machine. The action ot this additional winding may be explained as follows: ssun'ie the geneiator ruiming at a given speed, with the lamps 17 turnedV off; it' then the lamps be turned on, the main. flux is increased by the additional ampere turns due to the.

winding 2t, which tends to increase the E. M. F. between the brushes l2 and. 13, resulting in an increase of current output.

This increase of current is controlled and limited by the increase cross tiuX and the resulting reduction of current in the winding 15, as explained fully in the preceding part of the description.

Having thus described my invention, what I 'claim is:

l.. A current generating and ignition system comprising a generator having means for regulating the current output as the speed varies and having a pair of brushes between which the voltage increases as the speed increases, and an ignition circuit con-- nected to said brushes.

ln a system for supplying electricity, a generator having a plurality of brushes, a load circuit connected to two of the brushes, the voltage between said two brushes being substantially constant at varying speed, an ignition circuit connected to two ot the brushes, the voltage between said last named brushes increasingr with the speed. l

3. ln a current generating and ignition system, a generator having a pair or" main brushes, the voltage between which is substantially constant at varying speeds and having a..third brush displaced from one ot' said load brushes, the voltage between said third brush and said last mentioned load brush increasing with the speed, and an ignition circuit connected to said last mentioned brushes.

Ll. In a battery charging and ignition system, a generator having a plurality of brushes including a pair ot', load brushes and a third brush displaced from one of said load brushes, a load circuit connected to said load brushes, a current regulating field coil connected to said auxiliary brush and one of said load brushes, andan ignition circuit connected to lsaid third brush and the other of said lo-ad brushes.

ln a system for supplying electricity, a generator having means for regulating the current output as the 'speed varies including.

placed from neutral position in a direction opposite to the `direction of rotation so that the voltage between said brush and the load brush displaced therefrom in the direction of rotation increases with the speed and the voltage between said brush and the brush displaced therefrom in the' direction opposite to the direction of rotation decreases with the speed, an ignition circuit having terminals connected to the said brushes between which there is increase ot voltage with increase of speed, and said field winding being connected to said brushes between which there is a decrease ot voltage with increase of speed.

7. ln a battery charging and ignition system, a generator having a pair of load brushes and a third brush displaced from one of said load brushes and between which and said load brush there is a dilerence of potentialwhich varies with the sneed, and an ignition system including an induction coil having a primary circuit, an interrupter anda battery for said circuit, said circuit being connected to said two brushes between which there is a difference of potential varying with. the speed.

y lRVlNG J. REUTER.

'Witnesses '19. P. MoDnRMo'r'r, Jr., V. G. Pnin'rnn.' 

